Challenge
by static-harmony
Summary: -"I propose a challenge" "A challenge?" "Yes, a challenge." K said pulling out his favorite handgun. "Questions?"


**Authors Note: This story is beyond cheesy, but I really don't care. Don't like, don't care. I only wrote this for myself really. **

**I wrote the word challenge so many times it's starting to look wrong. o_O**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Gravitation, or the songs by Avril Lavigne used, I'm just borrowing. *tries to shove Kumagoro in her pocket* What? I wanted something of Ryu's!  
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"I propose a challenge" K said after both bands, Bad Luck and Nittle Grasper, had entered the meeting room.

"A challenge?" Tohma Seguchi, keyboardist for Nittle Grasper said.

"Yes, a challenge." K said pulling out his favorite hand gun, "Questions?"

Ryuichi Sakuma walked right up to K and put his forehead right against the muzzle of the gun.

"What's the challenge entail K-san?" Ryuichi said in his chibi-like voice he always uses off stage and cuddled Kumagoro closer to his chest.

"Thank you for asking Ryuichi" K said ruffling Ryuichi's hair and causing the male to smile brightly before scurrying back to his seat.

Everyone was still shocked that Shuichi had remained silent during all of this.

"The challenge is based off of an American artist I heard during my last trip to the States." K continued.

"American artist?" Hiro said.

"Yes, got a problem?" K said pointing the same handgun at him that he had pointed at Ryuichi.

"Nope." Hiro said before cowering behind Fujisaki.

"Good" K said before putting his gun down.

"Now, as I was saying, this challenge is for each band to do one song by the artist that I choose. I will give you each a copy of all three of her CD's and-"

"Wait, HER CD's?!" Shuichi stood up and squealed.

"I knew him being silent through this meeting was too good to be true." Fujisaki said.

"Yes, her." K said pulling out his trusty gun again, "Problem Shuichi?"

"YES!" Shuichi screamed.

K shot at Shuichi until the other boy muttered no and sat down.

K blew on the end of his gun and continued, "I will give each band a copy of all three of her CD's and you will choose one, only one song to do. Clear?"

K looked around and everyone nodded before placing a stack of three CD's in front of each band.

K nodded to Ryuichi, who nodded back, before heading to the door.

"Oh and by the way, you have until tomorrow to do it, you can remix the song if you want, but no changing lyrics or making the music unrecognizable." K said before winking and leaving the room.

Hiro picked up the top CD which said "Avril Lavigne- Let Go" in big white letters on the case.

"Avril Lavigne?" Ryuichi said without his chibi voice, "I think I've heard of her before when I was in the states."

Everyone looked at Ryuichi before he started laughing and grabbing the CD's, running out of the room screaming for Tohma and Noriko to follow.

After all the members of Nittle Grasper had left the room, Hiro proceeded to put in the first of the CD's and they listened to it all the way through.

Roughly 48 minutes later, and tons of praise to K for making them all learn English, the band had listened to the whole CD and hadn't picked a song, so they picked up the next CD which had "Under My Skin" written in red letters on the case.

About 10 minutes into the CD, the third song had ended and the fourth one began. Shuichi started nodding his head to the beat.

Hiro and Fujisaki still sat still in their chairs.

When the chorus started, Shuichi snapped up and moved closer to the speaker the song was coming from.

After the chorus had played the second time, Shuichi stood up and paused the song before screaming "I wanna do this song!"

Hiro and Fujisaki just started at him before turning their heads to the side and staring at him more.

"What?" Shuichi said, moving from his 'Captain Morgan' pose and walking towards them.

"Why?" Hiro said calmly.

"Did you hear the lyrics? That was practically me and Yuki right there." Shuichi said.

"I thought you loved Yuki." Hiro said.

"I do, but he treats me like shit and I'm fucking tired of it. He kicked me out three days ago and hasn't let me back in sense. I'm going to play this song for the concert, then I'm getting my stuff and that's it. My relationship with him was bad from the start and it's bad for this band and I am not losing this band over him." Shuichi said in one breath before turning red and falling to the floor.

Hiro picked up Shuichi and said "Congratulations Shu. I'm proud of you."

"Thanks Hiro." Shuichi said before hugging him.

"Okay, now that that's settled, can we go get the music and lyrics from K so we can start mixing it." Fujisaki said before they left the room to find K.

* * *

_**meanwhile with Nittle Grasper**_

The members of Nittle Grasper had ran through the first two CD's and were on the fourth song on the third CD, titled "The Best Damn Thing", and they still hadn't found a song. Noriko had suggested a few off the first CD, but none of them really spoke to any of the band members the right way.

Ryuichi was in full on serious mode, Kumagoro sitting on the table in front of him, staring at him intensely.

When the fifth song on the CD began to play. Tohma pointed out that the music was really nice. All of them nodded in agreement.

Ryuichi was listening and the chorus had caught his eye, but nothing else, but right before the chorus played the second time, and the woman sang, "Do you see how much I need you right now?"

Ryuichi was hooked, and he nodded to Tohma who instantly knew that there would be no swaying Ryuichi Sakuma once he made a decision and said he was going to get the music and lyrics from K so they could get started.

Both bands worked diligently through the night to mix the songs and change things sense both bands were singing a girls song with male lead vocalists.

* * *

At seven o'clock the next night, both bands were waiting backstage to play their song, K hadn't told them that this was going to be competition and a concert at the same time. So they were a bit shocked to discover all the screaming fans outside.

K entered Bad Luck's dressing room and said "You guys are up first, ready?" Before pulling out his gun and aiming it at them.

Shuichi stood up and said "YEAH! Let's rock!" before strolling out the door with a bullet lodged in his head.

Hiro and Fujisaki followed silently behind.

When Bad Luck walked onto the stage, the fans instantly got ten times louder.

Hiro walked to his guitar as Fujisaki walked to his keyboard and they poised themselves to get ready.

"HELLO!" Shuichi yelled into the mic, "Well as you all know, this is a contest between Bad Luck and Nittle Grasper. Each band is doing a song by the American artist Avril Lavigne. So we're doing 'He Wasn't' from the second album. READY?!"

The crowd screamed even louder which Shuichi hadn't thought possible, but obviously it was.

Shuichi nodded to Hiro and Fujisaki, who began playing the intro. Shuichi waited patiently to come in.

_There's not much going on today._  
_I'm really bored, it's getting late._  
_What happened to my Saturday?_  
_Monday's coming, the day I hate._

_Sit on the bed alone, staring at the phone._  
_He wasn't what I wanted, what I thought, no._  
_He wouldn't even open up the door._  
_He never made me feel like I was special._  
_He isn't really what I'm looking for._

_This is when I start to bite my nails._  
_And clean my room when all else fails._  
_I think it's time for me to bail._  
_This point of view is getting stale._

_Sit on the bed alone, staring at the phone._  
_He wasn't what I wanted, what I thought, no._  
_He wouldn't even open up the door._  
_He never made me feel like I was special._  
_He isn't really what I'm looking for._

_Na na na na na, we've all got choices._  
_Na na na na, we've all got voices._  
_Na na na na na, stand up make some noise._  
_Na na na na, stand up make some noise._

_Sit on the bed alone, staring at the phone._  
_He wasn't what I wanted, what I thought, no._  
_He wouldn't even open up the door._  
_He never made me feel like I was special._  
_He isn't really what I'm looking for._  
_He wasn't what I wanted, what I thought, no._  
_He wouldn't even open up the door._  
_He never made me feel like I was special._  
_Like I was special, cuz I was special._

_Na na na na na._

Shuichi ended the song and looked into the crowd, seeing none other than Eiri Yuki standing there. Shuichi smiled smugly at him and Yuki did nothing but nod his head and leave.

Shuichi felt like a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders and he walked backstage smiling brightly.

"SHUICHI!" Ryuichi squealed before latching a hold of Shuichi and hugging him tightly.

"That was amazing Shu-chan!!" Ryuichi said.

"Thanks Sak- Ryuichi-san" Shuichi replied.

Ryuichi almost glared at the other boy for almost calling him by his surname, but then smiled brightly when Shuichi corrected himself.

"I guess it's our turn now. Make sure to watch Shu-chan." Ryuichi said, handing Kumagoro to Shuichi before traipsing out on stage in his usual black leather pants and white ruffled shirt.

Shuichi clung to Kumagoro before bringing the pink bunny up to his nose and inhaling the scent that was Ryuichi Sakuma. He smelled like oranges and bubblegum. It was an intoxicating mix; Shuichi always had a soft spot for oranges.

Ryuichi strode out on stage with a smirk plastered on his face before smiling into the mic and saying, "Hello" which caused half the girls and guys in the audience to faint and the rest to get a nose bleed, "We're doing a song off of Avril Lavigne's last CD, it's titled 'When Your Gone'. I'm dedicating this to a special someone that's a little blinder than they realized. So I hope this helps."

Ryuichi shot a quick glance at Shuichi before turning back to the mic as Noriko and Tohma played the intro on their keyboards.

_I always needed time on my own_  
_I never thought I'd need you there when I cry_  
_And the days feel like years when I'm alone_  
_And the bed where you lie is made up on your side_

_When you walk away I count the steps that you take_  
_Do you see how much I need you right now_

_When you're gone_  
_The pieces of my heart are missing you_  
_When you're gone_  
_The face I came to know is missing too_  
_When you're gone_  
_The words I need to hear to always get me through the day and make it ok_  
_I miss you_

_I've never felt this way before_  
_Everything that I do reminds me of you_  
_And the clothes you left, they lie on the floor_  
_And they smell just like you, I love the things that you do_

_When you walk away I count the steps that you take_  
_Do you see how much I need you right now_

_When you're gone_  
_The pieces of my heart are missing you_  
_When you're gone_  
_The face I came to know is missing too_  
_When you're gone_  
_The words I need to hear to always get me through the day and make it ok_  
_I miss you_

_We were made for each other_  
_Out here forever_  
_I know we were, yeah_  
_All I ever wanted was for you to know_  
_Everything I'd do, I'd give my heart and soul_  
_I can hardly breathe I need to feel you here with me, yeah_

_When you're gone_  
_The pieces of my heart are missing you_  
_When you're gone_  
_The face I came to know is missing too_  
_When you're gone_  
_The words I need to hear to always get me through the day and make it ok_  
_I miss you_

Ryuichi stopped singing and smiled at the audience once more before walking back off stage. Most of the audience was in tears by the time Ryuichi had finished singing.

Ryuichi walked past Shuichi and went straight to his dressing room. Shuichi's water filled smile instantly vanished. He was crying cause of the emotion behind that song, but Ryuichi Sakuma was god and could sing so amazing that you couldn't help but smile.

Shuichi had wanted to tell him that he did amazing, but he had just walked past and said nothing. Was he mad?

Tohma walked up to Shuichi and placed a small hand on his arm.

"I know we haven't always seen eye to eye, but I'm going to tell you this as Ryuichi's friend. I know that your song was basically you breaking up with Eiri-san, so I'm telling you. Ryuichi's song, was for you." Tohma said before walking away.

Shuichi stood clutching Kumagoro to his chest, 'How could I have been so stupid? It was all right there!' Shuichi thought before breaking into a brisk run towards Ryuichi's dressing room, hoping it wasn't too late.

Shuichi burst into Ryuichi's dressing room before bending over and clutching his chest with his free hand and breathing deeply.

Shuichi finally regained his breathing and looked up and around the room. Ryuichi was lying on the couch in the middle of the room with his eyes closed, iPod turned on and ear buds in while quietly singing.

As Shuichi crept closer he realized it was 'Spicy Marmalade' by Bad Luck.

Shuichi walked right up next to the couch before softly placing Kumagoro on Ryuichi's chest.

Ryuichi opened his eyes looked up at Shuichi, "Shu-chan?"

"Hi" Shuichi said in a soft voice, feeling like the mixture of a girl about to ask her crush out and a fan girl.

Ryuichi sat up a bit and stared at Shuichi with an intense look in his eyes.

Shuichi coughed slightly trying to break the silence.

"You don't have to say anything" Ryuichi said softly, "I get it."

Ryuichi looked down to his lap, before playing with one of Kumagoro's ears with his ring covered fingers.

"No you don't." Shuichi said before placing his small hand on Ryuichi's hand.

"Then explain it to me." Ryuichi said.

"Let me ask you something first." Shuichi said.

"Anything." Ryuichi replied.

"When?" Shuichi said, rubbing Ryuichi's hand.

Ryuichi let out a pleasant sigh before closing his eyes and leaning his head back, "That night I was at your first concert, before you signed with N-G, when I had to come out on stage and sing because you were shell-shocked. I think looking into your eyes right after singing changed something. My feelings have only grown sense that day."

Shuichi let the smile he had been holding grace his lips before leaning in and kissing Ryuichi on the cheek.

Ryuichi opened his eyes and looked at Shuichi in shock.

"Shuichi?" Ryuichi said in a small voice.

"I can't do this unless I get all of you." Ryuichi said with tears in his eyes.

"You can have all of me, forever." Shuichi responded before pulling Ryuichi into his arms.

"I love you Shuichi. I always have." Ryuichi said.

"I know Ryu, I know." Shuichi said before pulling Ryuichi into a searing kiss.


End file.
